Week 5The Percussion Family

Information from The Dallas Symphony Orchestra Website

With a name that means, "the hitting of one body against another," instruments in the percussion family are played by being struck, shaken, or scraped. In the orchestra, the percussion section provides a variety of rhythms, textures and tone colors. Percussion instruments are classified as tuned or untuned. Tuned instruments (like the xylophone or timpani) play specific pitches or notes, just like the woodwind, brass and string instruments. Untuned instruments (like the snare drum, bass drum, and cymbals) produce a sound with an indefinite pitch, like the sound of a hand knocking on a door. The percussion instruments are an international family, with ancestors from the Middle East, Asia, Africa, the Americas and Europe representing musical styles from many different cultures.

Videos of the Instruments

Instrument Demonstration with a Gorman Student!